28th October 2022
We had an absolutely brilliant time at Skalloween last night! Not even sure where to start!
Let's try chronologically... so we arrived around 6pm, met by Jim Lambell who had booked us on behalf of the charity, and of course our wonderful noise team of Brendon and Grandad. Much hugging took place.
Before I could soundcheck, Jim couldn't wait to show me the infamous ROOM OF DOOM! Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything near as scary as it actually was! It was so well put together and just so creepy and weird!
We quickly got our soundcheck completed; with the expert nob-twiddling from Brendon it doesn't take him long. Lol.
We had the very wonderful experience of having our young Harry Bryan on the drums with us. Our drummer, Al, has moved on to pastures new now, and we are extremely grateful to have Harry on board again. He just has a real reggae and ska groove to his playing that you just can't teach. Superb that he managed to pick it all up with just one short rehearsal and absolutely smashed it. He's also just the coolest guy. He has a horse-house-van. If you know, you know.
Seriously though, it's times like this, where you find yourself suddenly needing help that you realise how much of a community the musical world can be. And we are forever humbled that RudeSix are always in our corner and ready to pick up an instrument and jump in if we need them! Hopefully we can repay the favour if they ever need us.
We had some time before we were due on stage, and thankfully there was a little dressing room to the rear of the stage. Some members went off to get chips. Harry got some salt and pepper chips from the chinese that scented the rest of the evening rather nicely. Anna and I go to work looking scary. Well, scarier than usual! We both opted for pale as heck with some creepy elements. I went for the good old mucky scratches and Anna went for big dark rings. By the end of the night, Grandad suggested Anna should really go home and get some rest, and Anna stated she didn't know what he meant as she'd already taken the makeup off!
I'm absolutely gutted we didn't get pictures of our Halloween getup. We did crimped hair and everything. I donned a white vest so I could spray it with fake blood. Very fun stuff until I realised that my skin was actually stained a lovely bright shade of pink. It was some time in the shower before that came off, I'm telling you, and Anna still has glittery eyebrows.
It was really nice last night for everyone to be able to spend some time chilling out and talking to each other - you'd be amazed how much we don't actually get to talk, with strict rehearsal times and stage times, sometimes it takes a gig with a little bit of a later start and an earlier soundcheck for us to all be able to catch up with each other.
We also had a bit of added pressure for our lovely LaLa man. Sugar was covering the guitar part last night as Clive is taking some time out and he's filling in so well! It's not easy having to do the guitar part, remember all the words, interact with the audience and keep everything running smoothly, so I must say here that we are absolutely spoiled and privileged to have such an amazing front man.
The Ska Medley we've worked on recently went down a (trick or) treat and lots of people were up on their feet having a good old skank.
Sometimes, when we're half-way through something, one of the band members will throw in a little extra something we haven't heard before, and sometimes it's hard not to get distracted, you know? Like "Oh, this band's good"! So impressed by the musicians we get to share a stage with in Reggulites. Truly musical greatness.
We get to meet so many amazing and beautiful hearted people through our musical experiences. The Lambells are no exception. Many moons ago now, the first time we played at The Wheeltapper, Maggie and Jim came to see us, and Maggie bought a t-shirt and a rather fetching hat from us! She also posed for a picture with our lovely Sugar, as you can see. This was taken all the way back on 27th June 2019, and now, three years later, they are the reason we were asked to perform for the Arden Angels. It's just wonderful how things come around!
It was Maggie who decorated the Haunted Room of Doom, and we have to say she did a superb job of it! All that stuff must have cost a fortune! But we were reliably told that usually Maggie's house it decked out with it all for Halloween, and that's just amazing!
On to the focus of what the evening was for. We wanted to do this fundraiser for Arden Angels. I've said in previous blogs and social media posts, the Arden Angels raise money for The Maple Unit and St Cross Hospital in Rugby. The Maple Unit itself provides essential care and management for cancer and rare blood disorders and was established entirely under fundraising. The work this charity does enables patients to be treated closer to home, rather than having to venture into Coventry for every appointment. I wouldn't want to go that far with a common cold, so it must be a blessing to be able to access these services on your doorstep. It's such an important thing to fundraise for, and we hopefully helped everyone have a wonderful night while they were raising money for the Angels. We sincerely appreciate being a part of helping communities and charities and so appreciated the opportunity to meet everyone and help out. Alongside DJs Paul Matthews and R Mark Scott (Two Steps Beyond) I hope we brought you an evening of great reggae and ska vibes to uplift you all.
Caroline Turner posted today: "On behalf of Arden Angels I would like to thank everyone who came to Skalloween last night. We know times are hard right now so to have raised £205 for the charity is so very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who dressed up, donated bottles & made the night a great success XX"
And Jim Lambell said: "A massive pat on the back to the team last night at SKALLOWEEN in Rugby. Although the turn out wasn't great we still managed to raise £205 towards the Arden Angels. So big thank you to Maggie Lambell for the room of doom... many pants were changed after entering that room. Well done to Caroline Turner and Nickie Brightwell for all the hard work putting this event on. Well done Thomas Crinigan for helping out at the event. Massive thank you to our wonderful DJs Paul Matthews and R Mark Scott. And lastly but by no means least The Reggulites for being our Star band. If you didn't make it to this event sorry to say you missed a Fantastic night. But keep your eyes open because next year we will be back."
We have a nice quiet month of November. We plan to do some studio sessions, work on some new material and bring you some cracking stuff to see and hear in December.
Our next public performance will be Friday 9th December 2022 at The Night Owl in Digbeth, for A Very Reggae Christmas.
To seethe Warwickshire World article by Lucie Green, see here:
To find out about our amazing PA providers, look here:
To see what Harry Bryan does when he's with his cool people:
To see what's happening at The Wheeltapper in Rugby, which we mentioned in the article, see here: The Wheeltapper - Pub in Rugby (business.site)
To see The Rugby Worker's Club where the event took place last night, see here:
To see more about Arden Angels and what they do:
Thank you for taking the time to read our blog and support our music.
The Reggulites xx
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